China's last Nomads: the history and culture of China's Kazaks

A growing interest in China's borderlands accelerated after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, which brought independence to new states like Kazakhastan as well as a new configuration of power to Central Eurasia. Despite renewed interest in the region and its peoples, information on the Kazakhs, and particularly on the Kazakhs living in China, has remained limited. This new study, based on Chinese publications and archival materials as well as on recent field-work, provides an up-to-date treatment of Kazakh history and culture, emphasizing the Kazakhs in twentieth century China and, in particular, their status today as one of China's minority nationalities.